Safety

The Cirrus Approach

When you think of Cirrus and Safety it’s very easy to think, “Parachute.” While this is the most visible new technology Cirrus has built into SR20/SR22 airplanes it is just one aspect of our thinking about safety – and possibly not the most significant.

Cirrus thinks of safety in four ways: Aerodynamics can help to protect you from inattention or distraction while flying; situational awareness and stress reduction features reduce workload and help you give a flight the attention it deserves; if you do lose control CAPS, the parachute, may be able to help; and if you do end up in an accident, a crash worthy design can help protect you from injury.

Aerodynamics:

Passive features are built into the design to minimize the effects of distraction, inattention or weak skills. A very visible example is the “discontinuous leading edge” of the wing designed to minimize the effects of inadvertent stalls.

This is discussed more in the CAPS & Stall/Spin page.

Situational Awareness and Stress Reduction:

Making it easy to see where you are and what’s going on around you. A moving map overlaid with NEXRAD and traffic information makes a flight less stressful.

A good autopilot lets you think things through and makes you better equipped for a safe approach and landing after a long flight.

CAPS (Parachute):

If you lose control, or if the flight is compromised for any reason, there is a way to recover many situations. Unique to Cirrus, CAPS is discussed in the CAPS & Stall/Spinpage.

Crashworthiness:

No one plans to have an accident in an airplane.

But if you do, Cirrus airplanes have a number of features that may contribute to protecting you. People have survived significant accidents in Cirrus airplanes.

Modern composite structures can provide a high level of integrity, with recent regulations demanding very high cockpit standards:

26G (horizontal) seats keep you in your seat, in the airplane

Modern occupant protection means cockpits are built to tolerate rollover and to keep everything in the airplane tied down (and not hitting you)